4-H Skills Translate into On-the-Job Success

Ohio 4-H isn't specifically designed to prepare young people for the workforce. But in many ways, it helps its more than 315,000 members in Ohio develop exactly the skills employers desire.

"When 4-H members work on a project, they're doing more than just delving into a specific topic," said Tom Archer, Ohio State University Extension assistant director for youth development. "They're learning how to take something from beginning to end and to share it with others along the way."

David Vollette agrees. Vollette is an Ohio 4-H alumnus who became a champion dog breeder, including breeding the top-winning Labrador of all time. His Labradors have won Best of Breed at Westminster -- twice.

"The best thing about 4-H is not just focusing on your hobby or your passion, but it gives you a way of learning responsibility and learning to be competitive," Vollette said.

Skills identified as vital to workplace success include professionalism and a strong work ethic; oral and written communications; teamwork and collaboration; and critical thinking and problem solving. In 4-H, children and teens practice such skills whenever they work on a project and present it to club members, take on leadership roles, and work with others.

"Employers tell us 4-H members are more independent workers, and they tend to care about their co-workers," Archer said. "That's no surprise to us."

In addition:

-- Every year, about 2,500 Ohio teens act as 4-H camp counselors, under-going 24 hours of training beforehand. From 2009 to 2011, 4-H piloted a modified curriculum designed to explicitly communicate the work-force skills the counselors gained through the training. Those who participated improved significantly in thinking skills, communication, teamwork and leadership, initiative, and professionalism.

-- Adventure Central, an after-school and summer program offered by Ohio 4-H and the Five Rivers MetroPark in Dayton, developed the six-month Job Experience and Training (JET) program to give young people real work experience. "JET helps them learn what's expected in the world of work," said Nate Arnett, the program's Extension educator.

-- Martha Filipic

ECO Farming: A New Farming System for the 21st Century

Everyone has an opinion about conventional tillage versus no-till. Ohio State University Extension, in conjunction with the Natural Resource Conservation Service and the Ohio No-Till Council, has developed a third tillage system for farmers to consider.

"ECO Farming stands for Eternal no-till, Continuous living cover, and Other best management practices," said Jim Hoorman, assistant professor with OSU Extension. "In other words, absolutely trying to eliminate tillage as much as possible."

Hoorman, along with Ray Archuleta of NRCS's East National Technology Service Center, Ohio No-till Council President Dave Brandt, and Mark Scarpiti, Ohio NRCS agronomist, collaboratively defined the ECO Farming concept. The team introduced ECO Farming to producers through a series of field days in August.

"Continuous living cover means that farmers try to keep a living crop on the soil 100 percent of the time," Archuleta said. Examples include grain crops followed by cover crops, pasture or hay systems, or perennial plants. "The goal is to protect the soil from soil erosion, increase water infiltration, and decrease nutrient runoff."

Other best management practices (BMPs) include the concept of controlled traffic, water table management where applicable, manure management, and integrated pest management (IPM).

"This system closely mimics natural cycles in virgin soils by feeding the microbes," said Hoorman, who also is an agriculture and natural resources educator for OSU Extension. "You have 1,000 to 2,000 times more microbes associated with live roots."

Plants supply 25 to 40 percent of their carbohydrate reserves to feeding the microbes, which in turn recycle nitrogen, phosphorus, and water back to the plant roots. This natural process improves soil structure and increases water infiltration and water storage.

The ECO Farming innovators insist that for farmers to accept this system, it must be economically viable, and in the long run should also be ecologically sound and environmentally sustainable. They say this system appears to have all three attributes.

-- Andy Vance

Extension Education is Key in Shale Gas Decisions

"I've been with Extension for 27 years, and I've never seen anything like this," said Stephen Schumacher, Ohio State University Extension educator in Belmont County.

The same could be said in much of the eastern half of the Buckeye State, where reserves of oil and natural gas in Marcellus and Utica shale wait to be drawn out from rock deep below the surface.

The development could mean thousands of Ohio jobs and a potential windfall for landowners contracting with oil and gas companies. But landowners also need to fully understand the highly complex leases that could last for generations, and public officials often need guidance on community implications as well.

Extension is providing such help. As of fall 2011, Schumacher and Extension colleagues have organized more than 40 programs attracting nearly 5,300 Ohioans.

"OSU Extension takes a non-biased approach to this issue," said Schumacher. "We just try to provide education that people need so they can make good decisions."

Such efforts are appreciated by a vulnerable public. Fred Schwarz of Licking County was approached by a "landman," or middleman, offering him $10 an acre to lease the mineral rights on his land.

"We got offered a lease, but I wasn't comfortable with it," Schwarz said. Though some neighbors signed up immediately, Schwarz started investigating. A paralegal suggested that he contact Extension, and he got in touch with Schumacher.

"He set the matter straight," Schwarz said. "As an outside person who doesn't have a stake in this game, his word had a lot of influence. It made all the difference in the world." Schwarz is now organizing a landowners group in Licking County to pool their resources and influence in leasing their land. Learn more at http://go.osu.edu/Extshale.

-- Martha Filipic

Study Reveals the Power and Promise of Agriculture

Agriculture and the agbiosciences provide crucial economic growth and job creation opportunities in the United States, according to a new study from Battelle, a Columbus, Ohio-based research and development organization.

Released in August, "Power and Promise" found that land-grant universities address many of the world's most critical issues.

"World population is projected to increase from 7 billion to 9.3 billion in just 19 short years. With increasing population, increasing income levels, and new uses for crops, we may need to double food production to meet the demand," said Keith Smith, director of Ohio State University Extension and associate vice president for agricultural administration.

The study, initially proposed by Ohio State, looked at the value of the agbiosciences in 12 North Central Region states, including North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio.

"In our science and technology-based economic development practice at Battelle, we have observed the consistent rise of agbioscience as a core driver of economic growth and business expansion opportunities for the United States," said Simon Tripp, lead author of the study. "This is an extremely dynamic sector, leveraging sustainable biobased resources to produce goods that meet large-scale market needs."

While the North Central states represent just 21 percent of the U.S. landmass, they provide:

-- 2.4 million ag-related jobs

-- 80% of soybean and feed grain production

-- 45% of U.S. livestock exports and agricultural export production

-- Two of the top five seed genetics companies

-- Two of the top agricultural equipment manufacturers

-- 88,000 ag-related companies, from manufacturing to provision of services

The full report, as well as other information, is available online at http://nccea.org/documents/powerandpromiseweb.pdf.

-- Suzanne Steel